Dasha overcomes major scare; Demon dodges awkward third round encounter in New York

(Getty/Robert Prange)

Daria Kasatkina has sensationally fought back from the brink in a gutsy second round display at Flushing Meadows, earning a clash against a two-time champion.

The 15th seed, who has reached the US Open fourth round twice, looked in cruise control after dropping two games in the first set against Russia's Kamilla Rakhimova.

However, much like her 2025 season, Kasatkina found herself trailing 1-4 in the third set, with her inconsistency suddenly rearing its head.

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Required to dig deep, the 28-year-old's grit and fighting spirit helped her prevail to snatch six out of the next seven games in 36 minutes to come out on top as a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victor.

"I knew it wasn't going to be easy... I'm not feeling amazing about my game, so I was in a situation where I knew she could come back at any point in the match," Kasatkina admitted.

"But [I'm] really happy with the effort today, because at some point I felt like I couldn't win a rally against her."

She later added that the win was "important for confidence", having also struggled in the third set with cramp.

Kasatkina will now face four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka for a potential fourth round berth.

It was more "straightforward" for Australia's top-ranked player, as Alex de Minaur safely secured his place in the third round with a comfortable 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win over world No.112 Shintaro Mochizuki.

"I think the result was more straightforward, but it felt like quite a complicated match," de Minaur told the media. "I had to navigate a tricky opponent who played some very good tennis at times, and in a way I had to do my best to weather the storm and use my experience and back my level over the long run."

Last year's quarter-finalist has avoided a third round matchup against 26th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who played his part in a gruelling four-hour and 21-minute marathon against Germany's Daniel Altmaier.

Tsitsipas holds a dominant 11-1 head-to-record over the Aussie, so de Minaur would be quietly relieved.

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Earlier in the day, memories flooded back for Alexei Popyrin as he entered Arthur Ashe Stadium, but world No.1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner was better in every department, barely getting out of first gear to register a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win.

Popyrin reached the fourth round in New York 12 months ago after upsetting Novak Djokovic en route.

There were no signs of lapses in concentration on Alexander Bublik's side of the net, as the Kazakh talent kept his composure to outmuscle Tristan Schoolkate 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, while Adam Walton crashed out of the tournament to Hong Kong's Coleman Wong in four tight sets.

Teenager Maya Joint will be left to rue a golden chance to serve out the first set following a 6-7(2), 2-6 loss at the hands of eighth seed and Wimbledon finalist Amanda Anisimova on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

The biggest upset of the day saw ninth seed Karen Khachanov surrender a two-set lead against Poland's Kamil Majchrzak.

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